I Got it Published!

090627 Urbanscapes 5 - The KLPAC foyer, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

Well, usually if a university lecturer says that it means that one of his academically sound, well-researched article has been accepted by one of the journals. That is one of the ways how we get promoted you see. But this one is slightly different, but just as thrilling!

Since putting my Urbanscapes online in the last couple of days, my flickr feed has gone bonkers. We are talking 500+ hits here. Yesterday, I received an email from a reporter from the Malay Mail asking if she can use some of my photos from the flickr feed for a piece she was doing. No probs. Today, it is in the paper. The online version got only one of them put up, but in the paper version, there were two of them.

The featured article in Malay Mail, click on image for link.The other photo featured in the article, but in colour instead.So, I am walking on a high today, and rest assured with the knowledge that you don't really need a big wonking DSLR with you when you have the LX3. I still wouldn't mind the EOS 5D Mark II though! Got to handle one of them during the weekend belonging to one of my fellow KLickr. Got to get ready for badminton later!

Spent the day looking through my flickr feed

090627 Urbanscapes 9 - Yes .... smoking is bad for you!, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

I can't believe my eyes when at 10am, when my push email kicks in, there were 20 plus messages. Mind you, it is Sunday. A lot of people were giving comments on my Urbanscapes picture page on flickr and they are being pushed straight through. Fun stuff! Currently my stats were looking really good.

After doing some chores, I took the family out to Gardens for lunch. I didn't realise that it was the KL Marathon going on this morning. A few of my friends, Sargunan and Rafidah to name a few actually participated. My wife asked me why didn't I? ..... Note to self, to kick-start my mid-life crisis, do the marathon next year ....

The trip to Gardens was pleasant enough. We had lunch at Alexis. The boys enjoyed the Pizza as usual. They then headed for the Transformers stalls over at Robinson and start picking them up .... Bad news!

Spent the rest of the afternoon going through some research papers, then off to have dinner at the in-laws. My brother -in-law, Razak is off to Turkmenistan tomorrow for a couple of weeks. We may have to stay with the in-laws during that time to keep them company. Idlan also needed some practice with the piano as he has a concert this coming Friday.

Urbanscapes 2009

090627 Urbanscapes 2 - Hmmm! Where to go next?, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

Spent the best part of my day today in Sentul, attending Urbanscapes 2009.

This is my first time at Urbanscapes, and also my first time at KLPAC. I was impressed both with the event and the center. The event was meant to start at midday, running until midnight. I drove into the parking area at around 12.30. I thought I was early. The first part of the carpark has already been closed because it was full or cars. My space was not that far away thankfully, only a 5 minutes away from the entrance. I managed to get a shaded space as well.

KLPAC foyerRM35 might sound steep, but in the scheme of things, it was reasonable. Since it was pretty hot, I decided to give the stalls and flea markets a miss first and headed straight into the building to check out on my fellow KLickrs. I was surprised that it was still empty. Apparently the group was not happy with the first series of slides and they were in the process of producing another CD. Unfortunately there was a glitch. Thankfully the organiser was on hand with his iMac and things were soon sorted out. The theme for the slideshow was '24 hour KL'. We interpreted as people's activities round the clock, and set out on tasks to capture people's doing their daily activities, as diverse as mechanics, barber, to a tattooist. The quality was pretty good. I was also impressed by kukubesi.com. Fotoradikal also put on a strong showing there, but I'll stick by the KLickrs. They are way cooler.

Theatre for Young People (T4YP)I then checked the short films. Some of them were hot and sassy. I was soon bored staying indoors. I headed out to watch the live performances. The first one I came across was by Theatre for Young People (T4YP). They did a rendition of "Whose Line is it Anyway", where the audience get to put their suggestions for sketches in a box for them to act out. Some of the jokes were damn right funny, but some of them were not unfortunately.

Shahridir & Nizam PMy next stop was 'The Sunset Disco'. It was an open stage for life act, and I was treated by a great set by Shahridir and Nizam P. The duo, Shahridir on guitar and vocals, and Nizam on drums and percussion, plays all their own blues-influenced material. I enjoyed every minute of it.

Me and cousin Adi at the KLickr baseBack at the Street Performances stage, I listen to another act whose sketch was again from audience contribution. This one was called 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Advice'. The audience gave a scenario then ask for an advice. The troupe then gives a good, a bad, and an ugly advice in turn. One of the question which I thought was funny was asked by a Chinese gent. He asked, "I have a guy friend for a number of years. He has been a great friend. I just found out that he is Indian. What should I do?"

The Good: "Don't worry. Race is not important, unless you are in Malaysia". The bad: "How dare you? You are f*%king racist man!". The ugly (from an Indian lady): "Aiyo! I also head Indian. This is Sentul right? A lot of Indians here, let's go and burn down the place." Good stuff, if you like those kind of things.

Psytrus - what struck me was the clever use of images projected behind their spaceI also caught a few more live acts, Psytrus to mention one. I really wanted to wait on to watch Pop Shuvit and Yuna. Unfortunately I have a wife and kids, and it was getting dark. I'm worried that it might rain. A quick walk in the flea market, then I was off.

At the flea marketThis is not flea market .... it's flee market!I was personally asked by @mahariz to visit this oneAll in all, after being a veteran of a few festivals in the UK, I thought that the event was very well organised. The venue did become crowded come the afternoon with the peak visitors, but there were food aplenty. A great variety as well. People were very courteous. I'll definitely come again next year. It might be a problem for the organiser though. As the event becomes more popular, they might struggle to contain everyone in KLPAC.

The DJ at the market space was from Zouk KL. They have a set later that night for the disco.There are more pictures from Urbanscapes on my flickr feed.

DUKE the time saver.

DUKE Highway, on the way to work, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

After being off work for nearly 2 months, there have been a major development around where I live. The DUKE (Duta Ulu Kelang Expressway) was opened.

It links the Ulu Kelang area straight to Jalan Duta and most importantly the PLUS Highway. Taking the entrance from Seri Gombak/Batu Cave interchange which is 5 minutes away from home, it takes me only around 12 minutes to reach Jalan Duta. I then take Jalan Semantan and the Semantan entrance straight into UM. All done within half an hour. Minimal jam.

This contrasts to my usual route. For the last couple of years, I leave home at around 6.40, and if I am lucky, I will reach the Faculty by 7.20. Lately, traffic has been worsening. I really need to rush out around 6.30, and there is no guarantee I will be able to make it before 7.30. I routinely get out of bed around 5.45. Rush through, no breakfast.

Take this morning for instance. After Subuh, I had a lay in until around 7.10. Get my boys out of bed. A quick shower, back down by 7.30, some toast and coffee. Then leave the house at 7.45 and I was already in my room at the Faculty by 8.15. I am not sure about you, I find this arrangement to be much better. I will then be in the ward by 8.30.

I am still trying out different routes to get home. The one I took yesterday was again via DUKE, driving towards Mont Kiara, coming out at Seri Gombak. Home within 40 minutes despite heavy traffic.

Lesson from Singapore

Morning Talk by Prof Ho from Singapore NUS, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

We wouldn't like to admit it, but there are things we could learn from our Southern neighbour. And we are not just talking about how to make a sitcom here.

This morning, the Faculty received a visit from a Professor from NUS in Singapore. He basically told us the story of how the healthcare system in Singapore been undergoing a major revamp since the turn of the millenium. And it all started from a realisation of something very obvious.

First, Doctors were leaving for Private practice in droves and that needed stopping. Second, the only real advancement can only be made if backed by R&D. In short, there are investment needed to be made into the health system, and it is not to build the biggest hospital with no specialist, or to purchase a CT machine to be hidden in a basement. The money should be channeled directly at the target. Increase the Faculty members pay packet, spend the money for research opportunity for these Faculty members and spend the money on proper human resource development, not on just some 'modal insan' mambo jumbo.

It all started with a simple questionnaire distributed to all doctors at one of the main hospital, asking what they detest most about their job and what it the main reason why they are still at it. The main reason why they want to leave is 1) the pay is a lot better outside, 2) limited career prospect for advancement. The next thing they do was realign the services, and change the hospital demography of the island down into 4 'district' hospital and 2 University Hospitals, the '4 plus 2' plan.

At the hospital, to promote career development, the Faculty Members were introduced into 4 career tracks, ranging from pure Clinicians to mainly Researchers. The promotion criteria will be aligned to each career tracks and everyone knows exactly what is required of them. At least what it sounded on paper. In en updated survey, they seems to be looking at early success. The staff retention rate looked good and their research output is also on the rise. The feedback from the Medical Students and patients also seems better than before, but Prof Ho himself felt that it is too early to paint any conclusions.

I find the talk fascinating and Prof Ho has plenty of insight to offer us. Realistically however, with a more intellectual population (and politicians) and smaller, and more compact geography, these major rethinking is much easier to implement in Singapore. The fact that the Minister of Health also tended to be medical doctors does help! The fact that they realised that something was wrong in the first place, quickly proposed a solution and implemented it is something that I admire. If only we can have similar strive for a goal, any goals, than there is hope for my beloved 1Malaysia.